Cannes 2014: WPP named Holding Company of the Year fourth time in a row

The Cannes Lions Festival has named WPP as the holding company of the year for the fourth year running. Last week, WPP won the Effie for the world's most effective holding company, for the third consecutive year.

The Holding Company Award is based on the total number of points won by each group's agencies during the week of the festival. Agencies from 47 different countries contributed points to WPP's total. WPP finished ahead of Omnicom and Publicis respectively. Ogilvy & Mather was crowned network of the year for the third year in a row.

Among the many examples of winning work from WPP agencies were: Ogilvy & Mather Brazil's "Bald Cartoons" for GRAACC, the children's cancer institute; "Unload your 401k" by Grey New York; OgilvyOne London's "Magic of Flying" for BA; "Turning Packaging into Education" from Y&R Yangon/Red Fuse for Colgate Palmolive, bringing Myanmar its first ever Lion; Ogilvy South Africa's "Give Me Strength" for Lucozade; "The Autocomplete Truth" for UN Women by Memac Ogilvy; Y&R Beijing's campaign for Penguin China; and Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" box set release by Interlude New York for Sony Music.

Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP, says, "We normally describe Cannes as our Oscars but this year it's the World Cup of advertising and marketing. We're thrilled to lift it for the fourth year in a row. Over the last 12 months, there have been a few distractions for some in the industry, so it's good to focus on the core of our business: brilliant work for clients. Huge thanks and congratulations to all our winning people, agencies and networks."

John O'Keeffe, worldwide creative director of WPP, notes, "The closeness of the result is testament not only to our own strength, but that of our competitors as well, who I know will be just as hard to beat next year. Congratulations to everyone whose work has made Cannes 2014 such an amazing showcase for our industry."

WPP is a communications services group with billings of $72.3 billion and revenues of $17.3 billion. Through its operating companies, the Group provides a range of advertising and marketing services including advertising & media investment management; data investment management; public relations & public affairs; branding & identity; healthcare communications; direct, digital, promotion & relationship marketing; and specialist communications, including direct, digital and interactive. The company employs nearly 175,000 people (including associates) in over 3,000 offices across 110 countries.